Koeman talks to Vitesse

The Barcelona assistant coach, Ronald Koeman, is in talks with Vitesse Arnhem about joining the Dutch first division club.

The Barcelona assistant coach, Ronald Koeman, is in talks with Vitesse Arnhem about joining the Dutch first division club.

Koeman and Vitesse were in "advanced negotiations", which would not resume until Saturday when Koeman's representative returns from abroad, Vitesse said in a statement.

Vitesse have been seeking a new coach since Herbert Neumann was sacked after the club were eliminated from the Uefa Cup by Lens in October.

Koeman, a former Dutch international who retired as a player in 1997, has been a coach at Barcelona since 1998, moving up to become assistant to Louis van Gaal at the start of this season.

He holds a special place in Barcelona's history having scored the winning goal in the club's sole European Cup triumph, a 1-0 victory over Sampdoria in 1992.

Lothar Matthäus was quoted as saying yesterday that he was ready to delay his move to the United States to stay with Bayern Munich until the end of the season. The 38-year-old was originally due to join the Major League club New York-New Jersey MetroStars in January but agreed to stay with the German champions until next March to help them in their Champions' League campaign.

"I now believe that two more months with Bayern would make sense, notably with the prospect of the [2000] European Championship," said Matthäus, who is nursing a thigh muscle injury. "To achieve the most with Bayern and the national team it would be good for me to stay here to prepare for the European Championship. I would be ready to do that if the two clubs can reach an agreement."

The Germany head coach, Erich Ribbeck, has made it clear that Matthäus, who has a world-record equalling 143 international caps, is part of his plans for the Euro 2000 finals.

Three supporters of the French club Bordeaux were arrested after they attacked two police officers following their team's 3-0 European Champions' League defeat by the Spanish side Valencia on Tuesday, a police spokesman said yesterday.

One of the police officers was treated for injuries to the face while the other suffered wounds to the hands. Neither officer was reported to be in serious condition.